April 25, 2023 Meeting Notes

 President Nancy Madeoy called the meeting to order. What’s blooming in your garden?  Hyacinths, apple tree blossoms, dwarf iris, daffodils, tulips, English daisies, flowering dogwood, muscari, viburnum and lilacs. Such a beautiful assortment of spring colors and we’ve got so many more to look forward to in the month of May!

 

The primary topic of the meeting this month was the LAGC Perennial plant sale.  Our Publicity Coordinator, Claudia has been busy writing informational articles about the history of LAGC and all the details about our upcoming plant sale.  She prepared both long and short articles and submitted them to Trib Media which can be publicized in print or online.  Claudia submitted the plant sale details to Northmont Church and Bill confirmed that he already saw the posting on the church website.  Anita posted all the details on Facebook.  Colleen will post the plant sale details on the Pittsburgh Patch newsfeed on May 1st.  Thanks for the great work, Claudia! 

 

Reminder to members:  Like the post on Facebook and share the reminders with friends and family.

 

Maryann, Plant Sale Coordinator distributed the volunteer signup sheet and reminders for our annual Perennial Plant Sale on Saturday, May 20th.  Please be sure to look for an e-mail from Maryann which gives all the details about the plant sale.  Please note that this year members are being asked to write down how many plants you bring to sell. Please look for the clipboard when you arrive and write down the number of plants. Also, please wear your green shirt and bring your garden flea market items for the free table.

 

Maryann asked members if they knew of any community groups that would appreciate having any plants that are leftover from the plant sale.  Diana said that the Bradford Woods Conservancy would like to have them. Colleen will check with her contact at the Gardens of Millvale to see if they could use them. Please let Maryann know if you have any additional suggestions.

 

A Great Big Thanks to Maryann for getting us organized for another plant sale.  We really appreciate all your hard work and enthusiasm!!  We couldn’t do it without you.

 

Maryann reminded members of the many upcoming plant sales around the North Hills area.  She sent an e-mail to members last month.  Please check your mailbox for all the details.

 

Once the agenda items were discussed and the floor was opened to members, Andrea Maire

mentioned that if anyone is interested in receiving free milk weed seeds they should Google “save our monarchs.org” for more information about their program.  

Along the same topic about Monarchs, Linda Ferguson mentioned that she learned that growing TROPICAL butterfly weed is not recommended because it keeps the Monarch butterflies in our area longer than what is good for them. The butterfly weed that Bill Goff gave members last year is the type of plant that is best for the Monarchs. Thank you, Bill!

 

We had 7 guests attend the program.  We had 3 attendees join our club.  Please welcome Alicia, John and Kate!

 

Our hostesses for the evening did not disappoint us!  A beautiful display of spring flowers brought by Lynn and delicious scones and fudge brownies brought by Chris.  Thank you for sharing!

 

Program 

 

Elaine Liberati, Penn State Master Gardener:   “Hugelkultur Gardening:  Classy and Cheap”

 

The topic of this evening’s program, Hugelkultur gardening seemed to be a new concept for most of the audience.  We were so fortunate to have Elaine Liberati introduce us to this century-old gardening technique because she has first hand experience of utilizing this technique in her own yard. 

 

Hugelkultur means “hill mound” or “hill culture” and was started in Germany and Eastern Europe and is similar to lasagna gardening and no-till gardening. Elaine explained that the garden is created by making mounds of rotting wood, sticks, wood chips, yard debris (like grass clippings and leaves), compost, and manure. The mounds are typically 3 to 5 feet tall and can be made in a raised bed or straight on the ground. Our speaker, Elaine creates her hugelkultur in her raised beds.

 

Building these mounds of natural debris creates an environment which is very similar to a natural forest or meadow which is a very healthy ecosystem for plants.  Over time, 3-5 years, all of the mound debris breaks down adding nutrients to the soil where plants will flourish.

 

Some of the benefits of creating a hugelkultur bed were explained. Healthier soil is created because only organic matter is added to the mound which breaks down naturally with the presence of worms and bacteria. It’s cost effective because of the use of natural debris that you might compost anyway. Creating the beds takes only a little bit of time and maintaining the beds is also simple because you may only need to add a new layer of compost and mulch each year to add nutrients and a medium in which to plant your plants.  This type of bed is also good at retaining water and promotes good drainage because of the layering of materials.

 

Our speaker, Elaine created her hugelkultur in a fenced in raised bed rather than directly on the ground.  She started by gathering fallen trees on her property which she and her husband cut down to logs so that they would fit snugly in her raised bed. She cautioned us not to use black walnut trees which release a toxic chemical, juglone into the soil or pine trees because the wood is too soft and decomposes too quickly.

 

The second layer she placed onto the logs is sticks and tree branches followed by wood chips and smaller tinder. The fourth layer is grass clippings or straw then leaves are added. Compost is the sixth layer which can be store bought or homemade. The final layer is mulch which is used for the same reasons that one would use mulch in traditional gardening to keep down weeds and retain moisture. It's beneficial to let the mound settle for a few weeks and then it's ready for planting.

 

Elaine gave a very informative presentation about a centuries old gardening technique which mimics what happens naturally in a forest without any human involvement. It was great to learn from a gardener who is already practicing this technique in her own garden. Are you ready to give Hugelkultur a try in your yard?

Reference books.

Meeting notes by Colleen Fingal, pictures by Rose Mary Highman

 

 

 

 

April 26, 2022 Meeting notes

On a lovely Tuesday evening, where we finally felt like spring might be here, Colleen welcomed garden club members. Blooming in member gardens:  Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinths, Hellebores, Grape Hyacinths, Trilliums, Fruit trees are in bud and as are Red Buds. 

 A tour is being planned for August’s meeting.  September and October meetings still need to be planned out. Mary Anne had suggested a tour of the Botanical Gardens, on a Saturday morning instead of Tuesday evening, because it would be getting dark earlier, or there are is the Ken Yost garden in Wilkinsburg. Lynn Betts had suggested a tour to the Kridler Garden nursery in Ohio, exactly 1 hour and 26 minutes from the church.  It’s best to go in the spring/early summer for the best selection of plants.  They have some more unusual varieties than what you see in the big box stores/our nurseries in this area.

 

Victoria had suggested a craft meeting for October, where we would make a door decoration with dried stuff from our gardens.

 

A member is needed to step up and assume responsibility for programming.  You can partner up with one or more members to make it a little easier. Please contact Colleen to get more information if you are interested. Holding office or chairing a committee is a great way to get involved.  In the interim, let Colleen know if you know of any presenters or potential tours for future meetings.

 

Officers have served 4 years, so new officers need to be selected in June, for the next 2-year term, 2023-2024.  Denny has indicated he would be Treasurer, but President, Vice President and Recording Secretary are needed.  If interested, please let Colleen know.  If you have any questions of the duties for these positions, please reach out to the current holder of the position.

 

Solomon’s Seal and White Iris divisions from the chapel garden are available in the back.  Claudia also brought in decorations, Lynn had an extra green t-shirt and  pots were available if needed for the plant sale.

 

Passavant sign-up sheet to weed/deadhead the white garden in front of the chapel is at the sign in table.  If you did not attend the meeting, please contact Evan Fingal to signup for a week.

 

Overview of plant sale was presented by Mary Anne.

It will be held rain or shine of Saturday May 14.  Pray for rain the prior day, and sun for the day of.

 

Thanks to Claudia who has already taken care of the publicity for the plant sale.  She was instrumental in getting an article of our club/plant sale in the 4/14 issue of the Tribune.  She will also bring tables and tent covers on the day of the sale.

 

Linda will bring name tags, Denny will act as cashier for the entirety of the sale, and Dianne will provide the seed money.

 

Mary Anne will take care of placing the signs.

 

Your plants should be potted by now, so they will look nice and healthy on the day of the plant sale.  Use 4 – 6” pots, and the value of the plant must be at least $2.  Even if you cannot come to the actual plant sale, please pot up some plants and arrange for them to be dropped off with a fellow member.  This is our only fundraiser of the year.

 

Plants should be dropped off in the church parking lot by 7:30 on the day of the plant sale.  For those working, or available to assist our customers with plant selection, “apple green” t-shirts are our uniform.  

 

Sign up sheet is at the sign in table.  If you were unable to attend the meeting, contact Mary Anne to sign up as a pricer, stager or cashier, for either the first or 2^nd half of the morning.

 

Dianne provided a treasurer’s report.  We started out with $4,394.75.  After speaker fees, and directory fees totaling $293.88, our ending balance in the checking account is $4,100.87.  Adding petty cash and membership dues of $70.06, our total cash available to the club is $4,170.93.

 

Debra from “Plant Traps” provided her “elevator speech” on her product.  You can find Plant Traps on Facebook, Instagram or simply google the term and you’ll learn all about the cool product she invented to extend your planters beyond your deck or porch railings.  She is also scheduled to appear on Pittsburgh Today Live on May 6.

Floating Garden Shelf on RoseMary's breezeway, planted pot to follow.

Thank you to Nancy for the beautiful arrangement and to Mary Anne for the delicious dessert.

Nancy's Phalaenopsis orchid.

A very informative presentation on “Backyard Composting” was given to us by John Powell.

 

He started with a quote from the Bible – “All go unto one place, all are from dust and all will be dust again.”

 

John considers himself to be a passive composter.  He puts everything into the bin until fall, when he sifts it, puts it in another pile to finish composting for use in the spring.

 

Ingredients for a good compost pile:

 

Green stuff, Brown Stuff, Air, Nutrients, Water and Critters who do the composting (like worms).

 

4’ x 4’ is the optimum size for a compost pile.

 

If you compost at home, you know what’s in your compost, it’s free, environmentally friendly and keeps the ingredients used to compost out of the landfill.

 

If you put large brown sticks at the bottom of your pile, it allows for better air circulation.

 

Jane assists by adding the compost layers.

Cage type for compost pile. 

Bone meal may be added to heat up the pile.

Tumbler compost model on left, stationary unit on right.
Typical "greens" food waste in front.

Chopping up your ingredients, whether it be kitchen waste, leaves, grass or twigs/branches other brown matter, will cause your stuff to compost quicker.

 

The 3 main methods of composting he covered are the composter (looks like R2D2), a rotating composter and cage method.  He prefers the cage method.

 

The greens in the compost = nitrogen, and the browns = carbon.  Basically, you want 1 part green to 30 parts brown.

 

Your compost pile should be turned regularly to speed up the decomposition process.

 

You should monitor for moisture.  Rotten odor = too much water, ammonia odor = too much nitrogen.

 

Sifting your compost results in a nicer product, and what doesn’t sift can be returned to the pile to decompose further.

 

Things you should NOT put in your compost: Kittly litter, Kitty poop, Plants that were sprayed with a pesticide, plants infected with a soil borne fungus or powdery mildew, weed seeds, meat and any cooked food.

 

John ended his presentation with a quote: “Old gardeners never die, they just very slowly turn into magnificent compost”

 

Debra had left a plant trap with Andrea to be given away.  Rosemary was the lucky winner.

February 22, 2022 (Tutu Tuesday) Meeting Notes

LAGC Meeting --- February 22, 2022

 

Welcome to 2022! This was our first meeting of the year. Members were still wearing masks per the covid guidelines of Northmont Church, but it was so great to see everyone again! We are permitted to have refreshments again so we enjoyed some cookies with our hot drinks of tea and coffee. Linda Brown brought a lovely potted hyacinth for the dessert table which was a welcome reminder that spring will soon be here.

Since it's only February there are very few plants blooming in members gardens right now. Snowdrops and the tops of daffodils are peaking out of the ground. Rosemary noticed that her dandelions are coming up! Hopefully, not too vigorously unless she has plans to eat them in a salad or make dandelion wine!

 

We will be printing a directory for 2022 with the intent to distribute the book at the March meeting. Marlow is working on updating the book. We’d like to include some photos of plants and gardens that have been taken by fellow Garden Club members. Please consider sending a photo or two to Marlow or Colleen for the directory. 

 

We circulated a sign-up sheet for the monthly host-hostess to bring a dessert or arrangement. An email will be sent to members to fill in the open slots. Thank you for volunteering! 

 

We are still looking for a program coordinator. If you're interested, please email Colleen. If you are unable to commit to organizing all the programs for the year then, perhaps you could volunteer to handle a month or two. It’s always more fun to work with another gardener so maybe the duties could be shared among a few members.  Colleen will help you along the way. 

 

We're always collecting program topics or speaker suggestions so please, e-mail your ideas to Colleen.  We are especially looking for some gardens that we can tour this summer. 

 

We were reminded that our annual plant sale will be held on Saturday, May 14th, 2022. We will be gearing up at the March meeting. Please mark your calendars so that you can help out at the plant sale. It's always such an enjoyable event to chat with club members and talk gardening with the community. It's never too early to begin praying and hoping for great weather for the plant sale!

 

Program:  “Weeds” by Dianne Machesney

 

We were very pleased to have Dianne Machesney speak to our club again and we weren’t disappointed to hear a very informative presentation about weeds. She explained what classifies a plant as a weed. She explored four different classifications of weeds: noxious weeds, invasive weeds, bad weeds and not so bad weeds. Dianne gave us examples of weeds from each classification which were accompanied by her own photographs. We learned the best methods to remove and try to totally eradicate the plant.

 

After we learned about the different weed classifications Dianne explained the theory behind integrated weed management---how to get rid of weeds. The basic idea is to use the most effective method to get rid of the weed with the least amount of damage to the surrounding plants and soil. For example, don't pour a gallon of weed killer on a plant if it would be just as effective to pull the weed out and throw it away.

Two samples from the weed slides.

 

Dianne said that she does not compost her weeds. A compost bin has to get to a very high temperature to kill the weed seeds. If a compost bin does not get to that temperature then, the seeds will germinate in the compost and the weeds would spread wherever the compost is used.

 

Thank you to Dianne for giving a great talk! 

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone in March where Ryan Wolfred from Soergel’s Garden Center will give a talk about Houseplants.